Studio Sessions: John Steck Jr.

My guest on this episode of Studio Sessions is photographer John Steck, Jr.

John earned his BFA from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design in 2010, and is currently finishing up his MFA at the San Francisco Art Institute.

John uses photography as a versatile medium, moving between capturing images of representational scenes to producing works that resemble abstract paintings. In his showing at the Hallway Gallery last October, where I talked to him, I discovered that many of his non-representational, expressionistic photos shared a common element that tied them all together.

Listen as he explains what this element is, and also discusses some of his other collections of work.

Views of “You Scratch My Back, and I’ll Scratch Yours,” book by John Steck, Jr. Image courtesy of the artist

Installation view of Sea-Coast/Sea-Ghost at the Hallway Gallery. Image courtesy of the artist

Installation view of Sea-Coast/Sea-Ghost at the Hallway Gallery. Image courtesy of the artist.

Page from “In My Horizon,” book by John Steck, Jr. Image courtesy of the artist

Lumen 13, photogram image by John Steck, Jr. Image courtesy of the artist

Lumen 16, photogram image by John Steck, Jr. Image courtesy of the artist

About Author

Matt Kuhlman is an artist, writer, and journalist originally from Lawrence, KS. He earned his BFA in printmaking from the University of Kansas, and a Master's in journalism, also from the University of Kansas. His artwork has appeared in dozens of shows throughout the past decade, and Big Red & Shiny is the fourth online publication his work has appeared in. Currently in the Boston area, he has also lived in Albuquerque, Milwaukee, New York City, and rural Kentucky.